Gordon Brown Goes a Bit Green

Today Gordon Brown, in what is expected to be his last Pre-Budget Report as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, laid out a couple of moves in the green direction.

  1. The 3-year freeze on petrol duty is off as he announced a 1.25 pence rise in a litre of fuel at the pump from midnight tonight.
  2. Doubling of air passenger duty on short-haul flights which will rise from £5 to £10 and £20 more for long-haul flights from 1st February 2007.
  3. The treasury will extend the duty period on discounts for certain types of green fuel and announced a "package of measures to encourage the development of the biofuels market"
  4. Brown mentioned plans to investigate building Britain's first carbon-capture and storage plant.
  5. Brown intends to promote the development of the global carbon market by expanding and strengthening the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
  6. Within 10 years Brown expects every new home to be a zero-carbon home, with all new zero-carbon homes being exempt from stamp duty.
  7. Legislation to ensure that microgeneration of power by householders is not subject to income tax on payments for surplus energy exported back into the grid.
  8. Extension of the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance to the year 2015 and to corporate landlords.
  9. Confirmation that landfill tax will rise from £24 a tonne to £27 a tonne from the 1st of April 2007 with sharper rises in landfill tax from 2008 onwards.

Well that's a start but, as the Lib Dems pointed out, it appears that Brown is only setting aside 0.1% of GDP for rectifying the UK's contribution to global warming & pollution whereas the Stern Report indicated 1% of GDP should be spent.
And that's our quick summary, but if you want the in-depth data be sure to visit HM Treasury website to read more on the Pre Budget Report.